Concrete form systems and hardware useful therewith



June 27, 1967 R. M OURY 3,327,986

CONCRETE FORM SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE USEFUL THEREWITH Filed Feb. 19, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 i v INVENTOR: RALPH M. OURY June 27, 1967 R. M. OURY 3,327,986

CONCRETE FORM SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE USEFUL THEREWITH Filed Feb. 19. 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 #1111111)" I I!"lllnllzllillllllilzll "lnlllm T9 INVENTOR. RALPH M. 0U RY ATI'YS.

CONCRETE FORM SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE USEFUL THEREWI'IH Filed Feb. 19, 19 62 5 Sheets-Sheet. 5

FIGH

INVENTOR.

RA I PH M. OURY ATT'YS June 27, QURY v CONCRETE FORM SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE USEFUL THEREWITH med Feb. 19. 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 RAIEYPH M. OURY June. 27, 1967 R. M. OURY CONCRETE FORM SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE USEFUL THEREWITH Filed Feb. 19. 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 I FIG. l5

FIG- I INVENTOR. M. OURY I ATT'YS.

United States Patent 3,327,986 CONCRETE FORM SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE USEFUL THEREWITH Ralph M. Oury, Wheaton, Ill., assignor of twenty-five percent to Matthew C; Thompson, Glen Ellyn, Ill. Filed Feb. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 174,212 12 Claims. (Cl. 249-45) This application is a continuation-impart of my copending application Ser. No. 88,451, filed Feb. 10, 1961, now abandoned.

This invention, in general, relates to concrete form systems comprising a series of abutting, interlocked panels, to panels useful in said systems and to hardware components useful in the assembly of concrete form systems. More particularly, the hardware relates to plates for interlocking abutting panels and to the combination wherein said plates interlock with tie rods of concrete form systems by the use of a locking member cooperating with the plates and the tie rods. These plates have projecting studs which, in some embodiments, are mounted in fixed position on the plates while in other embodiments one or more of the pins is adjustably positioned on the plates. The hardware of the invention also rel-ates to a locking member adapted to cooperate with an end of a tie rod for interlocking the opposed walls of a concrete form system, said locking member having adjustably mounted thereon a U-shaped bracket adapted to receive and hold a waler brace, a kicker brace, or a catwalk.

Many factors must be considered in developing an efiicient form system for pouring concrete walls or the like. The system must be easy to assemble with proper alignment of the form walls. It must also be easy to disassemble after the concrete has been poured and has set. Furthermore, wastage of lumber and other parts used to make the concrete form system should be minimized to hold down costs for the contractor. It is especially desirable to have a concrete form system in which the panels constituting the walls of the form can be reused. Such panels constitute the bulk of material used in the concrete form system and they, accordingly, should be capable of being stacked in compact piles to minimize volume of storage space and size of trucks needed to transport the forms to and from the job. Additionally, a concrete form system utilizing reusable panels should be easily adaptable in the assembly of concrete form systems in the pouring of concrete walls of different thicknesses, and the varying of the length of individual walls of the poured concrete,

and the like.

These and other desirable qualities for concrete form system and component parts thereof are afforded by the invention herein described and claimed. Briefly, the invention relates to concrete form systems utilizing a pair of opposing walls into which the concrete can be poured. These walls are made up of a series of abutting, aligned panels adapted to receive hardware pieces which tie the opposing walls together in substantially rigid relationship and which also tie together in substantially rigid relationship adjacent abutting panels in a given wall. These panels contain at spaced intervals along their abutting edges holes or sockets adapted to receive pins or studs of hardware pieces utilized to tie abut-ting panels together. The panel-s also contain apertures through which extend tie rods which connect the opposite walls together so that they are substantially rigid with respect to each other. One of the pieces of hardware in the concrete form system of the invention is a plate upon which at least one stud or pin can be mounted in one of several selected positions. This plate can be utilized to construct a form system composed of adjacent panels' wherein a spacer member or board is inserted between two of the panels.

Another piece of hardware with which the invention 3,327,986 Patented June 27, 1967 is concerned is a member, often designated in the trade as a hairpin, which has a slotted, inclined surface adapted toreceive the projecting endof atie rod. This member is used as a wedge between the wall and the button on the end of the tie rod to temporarily lock the tie rod in fixed, rigid position, the series of tie rods used in concrete form systems serving the function of rigidly interlocking two opposing walls. This member has a projecting rod or pin or plate mounted thereon, on which rod or pin or plate is adjustably mounted a U-shaped bracket or L-bracket for receiving and holding a waler brace, a kicker brace, or a catwalk mounted on the concrete form system. One or more of these members-can be utilized in conjunction ments of the invention utilizing the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and principles of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an article of manufacture, often known in the trade as a hairpin, with a U-shaped brace adjustably mounted on a pin or rod projecting fromthe article of manufacture with a projecting end of a tie rod seated on a slotted, inclined surface of said article of manufacture and a waler brace or catwalk, shown in phantom lines, mounted in the U-shaped bracket.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to 'FIG. 1 of the same article of manufacture in which the U-shaped bracket is mounted in another adjusted position and a kicker brace, illustrated in phat-om lines, mounted in the U-shaped bracket.

FIG. 3'is a perspective view of a plate used to tie together panels of a wall of a concrete form system, which plate has a pair of projecting pins or studs, one of which can be mounted on the plate in any one of several positions.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a plate used to tie together abutting panels in a concrete form system, which facture, often designated in the trade as a hairpin, wedged between a face of the plate the tie rod. 55 r and a button on the end of FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a corner of a concrete form system wherein the panels of the form system have been broken for the purpose of conserving space, which figure shows some of the modes of utilizing the hardware illustrated in FIGS. 1-4in tying together and bracing adjacent panels on one of the walls and also tying together opposing walls of the concrete form system.

' FIG. 6 is an exploded view showing one of the embodiments, in partial segment, of panels used in the con- 'crete form systems of this invention, a tie rod, a plate for locking together abutting panels with a'corner of the plate broken away to better illustrate a projecting stud or pin thereon, and a hairpin utilized as a wedge in the manner illustrated and designated with respect to FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view on an inside corner brace hardware piece.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a tie plate having selective holes for holding a tie rod and a pin or stud which extends into a hole in a form anel.

p FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the hairpin hardware of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 10 is a top plan view of the hairpin hardware of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a two-pin tie plate used to tie abutting, form panel sections together.

FIG. 12 is a side elevation of a segment of form walls with the panels tied together and to the panels of an opposing wall of the form with the hardware embodiments of FIGS. 7-11.

FIG. 13 is a top plan view of a corner of the form walls of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a perspective'view of a modified corner of the form walls.

Before describing the over-all concrete form systems of the invention, the hardware used in connection therewith will be described. Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, one of the hardware pieces is a member 1, commonly known in the trade as a hairpin, which has a plate body portion 2 with a rounded, raised-segment 3 extending longitudinally of the plate body portion 2. The raised portion 3 contains a longitudinal slot 4 positioned at the top of the raised segment 3. The sides of the raised segment 3 adjacent the slot 4 slope angularly with respect to the plate body portion 2. These sloping sides adjacent the slot 4 form a wedged surface upon which rides the button or head 5 at the end of the tie rod 6, shown only in segment in FIGS. 1' and 2. g

The hairpin 1 is inserted under the head or button 5 of the tie rod by slipping the latter through the aperture 7 at the base of the slot 4. The hairpin is then driven to a position where the hairpin 1 is tightly wedged between a panel of the form system or a hardware plate of the form system and the button 5 of the tie rod 6. The plate 2 may contain a plurality of nail holes '8, in this case four in number, in the event it is desired to nail the hairpin 1 after it has been wedged into position on the concrete form system.

The foregoing portions of the hairpin '1 are conventional and known. They do not per se constitute my invention. My invention with relation to hairpins and like hardware is the provision on the body portion of the hairpin of a rod or pin 9 which projects outwardly from the plate body portion 2. This pin or rod 9 is rigidly secured at the upper end of the plate body portion 2 by welding or other suitable means. On the pin or rod 9' is adjustably mounted a generally U-shaped bracket 10 formed by bending a metal plate in the form of opposite, parallel legs 11 and 12 and connected by a bight plate 13 at right angles to the legs 11 and 12. If desired, the bight portion 13 can be curved instead of flat. The leg -12 of the U-shaped bracket 10 has a clamp plate 14 welded or otherwise fixedly attached thereto. The clamp plate 14 is made up of a base segment 15 attached to the leg 12, an arcuate or rounded segment 16 of a curvature generally conforming to the curvature of the rod or pin 9, and a substantially flat tablike segment :17 normally spaced away from the leg 12. The tab 17 has a hole therein through which extends a threaded shank 18 which is fixedly attached, as by welding, at its base .to the leg 12. The clamp plate 14 has a slightly springy or resilient quality so that by threading a nut 19 against the washer '20, the arcuate portion 16 can be tightly clamped about the rod or pin 9 to hold the U- shaped bracket tightly on the rod or pin 9 in one of its adjusted positions.

The mounted position of the U-bracket 10 as illustrated in FIG. 1, wherein the open side of the U bra-cket faces the hairpin land the legs 11 and 12 are substantially horizontal, is one in which a waler brace or catwalk 20 is supported in the U-braoket. The waler brace or catwalk may be nailed in the U-bracket 10 by driving nails through nail holes 21 in the legs 11 and 12 of the U bracket 10.

A waler brace nailed in the U-bracket 10' can be adjusted relative to the wall panels which it braces in an expeditious manner by shifting the position of the U-bracket 10* on the pin or rod 9.

The adjusted position of the U-bracket illustrated in FIG. 2, wherein the legs 11 and 12 are substantially vertical and the open end of the U-bracket 10 faces away from the hairpin 1, is one in which the U-bracket can be utilized to receive and hold a kicker brace 22. The kicker brace is normally mounted at an angle in the U-bracket at one end thereof with the other end braced or supported upon the ground or other structure adjacent the concrete form system. It is ordinarily necessary to nail the kicker brace 22 in the U-bracket 10 by nails driven through nails holes 21.

The hardware in FIGS. 3 and 4 constitutes met-a1 plates having at least two studs projecting from one face thereof, These studs are inserted in holes or sockets in adjacent panels of the concrete form system and hold the panels from movement in a longitudinal direction along the wall The spacing of the studs corresponds to the spacing of the holes or sockets in adjacent panels which are to be interlinked by the plates. Each of the plates also has at least one aperture therein through which is inserted the projecting end of a tie rod on the outside face of each opposing wall.

The tie plate 23, illustrated in FIG. 3, has fixedly mounted thereon and projecting from the rear face thereof, as positioned in FIG. 3, a pin or stud 24 situated adjacent one corner of the plate. The plate also contains a series of holes 25 which are substantially in alignment with each other and with the pin 24. These holes are ordinarily spaced apart a distance of one or two inches, although other distances may be standardized and used in a given concrete form system. Each of the holes 25 is adapted to receive a threaded shank of a bolt 26. The threaded shank of the bolt 26 is threaded in an internally threaded pin or stud 27, the threads being shown in phantom at 28. The pin or stud 27 is cylindrical and is of a diameter substantially the same as the pin or stud 24. The bolt 26 and the pin or stud 27 can be mounted many of the holes 25, thereby allowing the distance between the pin 24 and the pin 27 to be varied. The purpose of having at least one adjustably mounted pin on the plate 23 is to allow this plate to be utilized for connecting panels with predrilled holes or sockets of a concrete form system where a spacer board is inserted between the panels. This feature will be described in greater detail in the description which relates to the illustration in FIG. 5.

Theplate 23 contains another series of aligned holes 29 adjacent the opposite longitudinal edge of the plate 23. Each of the apertures 29 is in approximate alignment with the corresponding aperture 25. The apertures 29 are provided so that 'a projecting end of a tie rod can be extended through the plate 23. The tie rod is ordinarily aligned with the pin or Stud 27 in whatever position it happens to be mounted. The plate 23 contains another aperture 30 in alignment with the apertures 29 and directly opposite the pin or stud 24. This aperture serves a similar function to the apertures 29.

Where, however, the plate 29 connects a corner form with a Hat panel form, there is utilized in lieu of a tie rod extending through either one of the apertures 29 or the aperture 30 only a segment of the tie 'rod or a like piece of hardware. This segment of the tie rod constitutes the button 5 on the end of the tie rod, the disc or washer 31 adjacent thereto and the shank portion 32 connecting the washer and button (see FIG. 6). There is no purpose in utilizing the whole tie rod because there is nothing to which the opposite end of the tie rod can be connected in the corner of the concrete form system. The latter piece of hardware serves only the function of tying the plate and the corner form together.

The plate 23 also contains a series of aligned, small nail apertures 33 and an additional pair of nail apertures 34 so that the spacer board inserted between panels connected by the plate 23 can be attached by nails to the plate 23. Furthermore, at each opposite end of the plate 23, it is bent to provide a small, arcuate segment 35 into which a pointed tool can be inserted to pull the plate 23 out of the holes or sockets in the panels into which the studs 24 and 27 have been insertedthereby facilitating easy tear-down of the form system after the concrete has been poured and has set.

The tie plate shown in FIG. 4 is a rectangular plate 36 which has four studs 37 fixedly mounted on the plate, as by welding, and projecting from one face of the plate 36. As viewed in FIG. 4, the studs 37 project from the rear face of the plate 36 substantially at right angles thereto. The plate 36 has small arcuate bends 38 situated approximately midway along the opposite end edges thereof. These arcuate bends serve the same function as the ar-cuate bends 35 in the plate 23 illustrated in FIG. 3.

The illustration in FIG. 4 shows the end of a tie rod 6 with a button 5 on the end thereof projecting through an aperture 39 approximately centrally positioned in the plate 36. The illustration in FIG. 4 further shows a hairpin 1, which is of known and conventional design, wedged into position between the button 5 and the plate 36 in the manner previously described with respect to the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2. Reference is made to the description relative to FIGS. 1 and 2 for the description of the component portions of the hairpin 1.

The plate 36 is used to interlock against spreading of adjacent, abutting panels in a wall of a concrete form system. The studs 37 are inserted into predrilled holes or sockets adjacent to but spaced inwardly from the abutting side edges of the panels. These holes or sockets are spaced to correspond with the spacing between a pair of the studs 37 in the vertical direction in each panel and the distance between holes or sockets in adjacent, abutting panels corresponds to the horizontal spacing between the studs 37.

The exploded View in FIG. 6 shows the mode of assembly of a tie rod, a pair of abutting panels, the tie plate of FIG. 4 and a hairpin where the abutting panels 40 and 41 each have a pair of holes or sockets 42 and 43, respectively. The abutting edges 44 and 45, respectively of the panels 40 and 41 each have a half hole or socket 46 and 47, respectively, which form a round aperture through the abutting panels at the abutting edges thereof. In assembling the panels, their edges are brought into abutting relationship with the half holes 46 and 47 in alignment. The left-hand pins or studs 37, in the orientation of the parts shown in FIG. 6, are inserted into the holes or sockets 42 and the right-hand pins or studs 37 are inserted into the holes or sockets 43. The tie rod 31 is inserted into and through the aperture formed by half holes 46 and 47 and the aperture 39 in the plate 36. Both apertures are larger than the button 5 of the tie rod 48. The hairpin 1 is then wedged into position between the plate 36 and the button 5 in the manner previously described to give an assembly wherein the panels 40 and 41 are held against longitudinal spreading by the studs 37 seated in the holes or sockets 42 and 43 and in longitudinal alignment between the disc or washer 31 on the tie rod 48 and the plate 36, the two of which press against opposite faces of the abutting panels 40' and 41 when the hairpin 1 is wedged between the button 5 and the plate 36. The opposing wall of the concrete form system has a similar set of holes or sockets 42, 43, 46, 47 directly opposite the corresponding holes or sockets and the opposite end of the tie rod is connected therewith in the same manner.

In a concrete form system of the type herein described, in which the panels are reusable, it is ordinarily desirable to provide wear-resistant members which will reinforce the holes or sockets, the unlined walls of which are wood or the like, against wear and consequent enlargement thereof. The panels shown in FIG. 6 have the sockets reinforced on each side of the panels with washers 49 which are recessed in and substantially flush with the faces of the panels 40 and 41. These washers are nailed or otherwise attached to the panels. In the case of the half holes 46 and 47 the washers in each instance are half Washers 50. These washers are only slightly larger in radiau than the radius of the pins or studs 37 so that the washers bear the major part of the wearing forces.

As will be described later, metal bushings lining the walls of the holes or sockets 42, 43, 46 and 47 may be used in lieu of the washers.

An embodiment of a segment of the concrete form system of the invention is shown in FIG. 5. Parts of the concrete form systems which have been previously described with reference to FIGS.14 and 6 are designated with like numerals in FIG. 5. The perspective view of FIG. 5 shows a corner of the concrete form system. The form is made up of a pair of outside walls 51, 52 disposed at generally right angles to each other and a pair of inside walls 53, 54 disposed at right angles to each other. Each of the walls 51-54 is made up of a series of abutting panels 55 which are rectangular sheets of plywood or other suitable material.

The corner of the inside wall occurs, in the illustrated embodiment, where the two adjacent panels 55 of the inside walls 53 and 54 meet. By using an adequate number of tie rods 48, properly spaced for the strength and rigidity necessary, the panels 55 at the inside corners are ordinarily sufficiently interlocked in the concrete form system so that they need not be braced with respect to each other. Such bracing may be used, however, if desired, either with a hardware brace or with wooden braces nailed to the panels forming the corners. To complete the inside corners there is inserted a small board constituting a filler 62 which need only be nailed to the two panels 55.

The outside corner of the form system is a pair of panels 56, 57 held together at right angles to each other by two or more L-brackets 58, one of which is shown in FIG. 5, attached to each of the panels 56 and 57. The outside corner form is ordinarily constructed to give an inside corner width of each panel 56 and 57 equal to the Width of the wall most commonly poured by the contractor. For example, if the contractor usually pours a 6" foundation wall, the width of the inside surface of each panel of the corner form preferably would be 6". The reason for this is that opposite panels in opposing walls are matched, and the corner form can be then attached directly to the flat panel adjacent each corner when a 6" wall is being poured. The need for a spacer board can thereby be eliminated.

If, however, the contractor has a 6" wall corner form and is pouring, for example, an 8" or 10" wall, he can then insert in the outside walls between the corner form andthe adjacent flat panel 55 a spacer board 59 which would be a 2" board in the example where the con tractor is pouring an 8" wall, or a 4" board Where the contractor is pouring a 10" wall. Similarly, where the length of any given Wall cannot be achieved by using combinations of panels of various widths which the contractor utilizes in his form system, a spacer board can be inserted between panels at any point along the length of the inside and outside Walls to provide the desired wall length. Such spacer boards can be readily cut on the job or out prior thereto in the contractors shop.

The panels 55 in any given form system may be all the same size, or they may be of varying widths.

The buttons 5 situated on the outside corner panels 56 and 57 are 'buttons of short pins constituting only the button 5, the washer 31 and the interconnecting shank 32 of the tie rod 48 illustrated in FIG. 6. These short pins are used instead of a tie rod inasmuch as there is nothing in the corners t-owhich to attach the'opposite end of the tie rod.

As an example, panels 55 of a given concrete form system may be all 4' by 8' panels, all 6' by 8' panels or all 8 x 8 panels. Preferably, however, a given form system will include panels of varying width such as some 2' x 8 panels, some 4' x 8' panels and some 6 x 8 panels.

The latter system gives the contractor greater adaptability in setting forms for walls of different lengths.

Each of the panels 55 has spaced along the abutting edges thereof groups of holes 42, 46 into which the studs of the plates 23 or 36, as the case may be, are inserted in the construction of the form. The upper and lower edges of the panels 55 may or may not have one or more groups of holes therealong, as desired. The illustration in FIG. shows groups of holes along the upper edge of the panels 55. The advantage in providing groups of holes along the upper and lower edges of the panels is that they can be used in another form system of the same type where they are turned 90.

The inside and outside walls 51 and 53 to the left of the corner of the form are reinforced against wear by the washers 49 and 50, previously described with reference to FIG. 6. Another type of wear-resistant hardware which can be used in lieu of the washers 49 and 50 is shown in the inside and outside walls 52 and 54. This is done for sake of illustration only, it being understood that a given form system ordinarily would utilize the same type of reinforcing hardware throughout. The holes 42 and the half holes 46 in the walls 52 and 54 are reinforced with cylindrical sleeves 6t and semi-cylindrical metal sleeves 61. These sleeves serve as bearing surfaces for the studs on the plates 23 or 36 in the case of the cylindrical sleeves 60, while the semi-cylindrical sleeve 61 reinforces the half holes against wear by the ends of the tie rods 48 extending therethorough.

The cylindrical sleeves 66 may be prefitted into the holes 42 in the panels 55 or they maybe securely mounted therein by other suitable means. The semi-cylindrical sleeves 61 may be nailed or otherwise secured in the half holes 46.

The groups of holes and half holes provided in the panels 55 are located in preferred embodiments adjacent the corners of the panels 55 so that the walls can be braced by tie rods adjacent the upper and lower edges thereof. Additional groups of holes may be situated along any side of the panel, depending upon the desired spacing of the tie rods. Furthermore, especially with large panels, the panels 55 may be provided with apertures 63 located in mid-sections of the panel for the insertion of additional tie rods for interlocking the opposing walls. An aperture of this type is shown in the panel 55 of the wall 52. The tie rods are held in position at these locations by wedging a hairpin 1 between the button of the tie rod and the panel 55.

The illustration of FIG. 5 taken together with the foregoing description of the hardware and the concrete form systems of the invention, show the assemblage of Walls of the concrete form system with the panels 55 in abutting relationship and held together by the plates 36; the interlocking of opposite panels in the inner and outer walls by the use of tie rods 48 and hairpins 1; the bracing of the outside wall 51 by kicker brace 52; the bracing of a series of panels 55 on the outside wall 51 by the use of a waler brace 20, the use of adjustable tie plates 23 for tying together components of the form system Where a spacer board 59 is inserted therebetween; and over-all assembly of a concrete form system which will enable one of skill in the art to utilize the concrete form systems hereindescribed in adaptations other than that illustrated in FIG. 5.

The holes which receive the studs of the tie plates may be apertures which extend through the panels or they may be holes which are drilled into but not completely through panels. The wall thickness of the panels is mainly the governing factor. If the holes extend through the panels, it is preferred that the studs of the plates have their ends substantially flush with the surface of the panels. Any of the holes in the panels through which tie rods inserted are holes which may extend completely through the panels. When a given form is assembled, any of the unused apertures on the face of the inner walls of the form upon which the concrete lies preferably are plugged to give a smoother surface on the concrete wall.

The hardware shown on the forms system of FIGS. l214, excepting the ordinary hairpins and the tie-rods, is shown in detail in FIGS. 71l. The tie plate for sideby-side panel sections is shown in FIG. 11 wherein the tie plate comprises a flat plate with a pair of studs or pins 66, 67 projecting outwardly from a face of the plate 65. The studs or pins 66, 67 are spaced equidistant on opposite sides of a hole 68 of a sufiicient size to allow the button 5 of a hairpin to pass therethrough.

The inside wall corner brace 70 is shown in FIG. 7. It comprises a pair of plates 71, 72 at right angles. The plates 71, 72 each have three rectangular slots 73 extending inwardly from their lower edges. The slots of each plate are spaced at equal intervals, e.g., one inch, center to center. The slots 73 are of a width slightly greater than the diameter of tie rod segment projecting through the panels.

The hardware of FIG. 8 is used at outside corner section connections to outside wall panel sections. It comprises a flat plate 75 having one stud or pin 76 (corresponding to one of the studs or pins 66, 67 of plate 65). The plate has a plurality of, i.e., three, longitudinally aligned holes 77 having in their respective side walls slots 78 extending longitudinally away from pin or stud 76.

The modified hairpin of FIGS. 9 and 10 comprises a body portion 86 having a plate segment 81 projecting outwardly at right angles to the hairpin. The plate 81 has a longitudinal slot 82 and is rigidly braced on the hairpin by a brace arm 63 welded or otherwise firmly attached to the side edge of plate 81 and hairpin 80.

The hairpin 86 includes a rounded, sloping, raise-d segment 84 having a longitudinal slot 85 and enlarged hole 86 at the base of the slot. The functions of these parts has been described, supra, with respect to the hardware of FIGS. 1, 2, and 5. The plate 81 carries an L- bracket 86 comprising a plate 87 having a slot 88 there- :across and an integral plate 39 having nail holes 90 therein. A waler brace, catwalk, or kicker brace can be secured on the L-bracket by driving nails through the nail holes into the wooden waler brace, catwalk, or kicker brace. The L-bracket 86 is held on the plate 81 by a threaded bolt 91 extending through the slots 82 and 88 and a nut (not shown) on the threaded bolt shank. The L-bracket is adjustable slidably and rotatably to any position on the plate 81 within the limits of the slots 82 and 88. Its position in FIG. 9 is illustrative of the position for holding a waler brace or catwalk whereas its position in FIG. 10 is illustrative of the position for holding a slanting kicker brace.

The form walls of FIGS. 12-14 comprises parallel walls of the nature of the form walls FIG. 5. The inside and outside walls are made up from abutting panels arranged in any suitable manner to provide a form wall of the desired length and height. One arrangement of panels is shown in the side elevation of the outside wall in FIG. 12. This wall will be described with dimensions of the panels specified for the sake of greater clarity of illustration, but it is to be understood that other dimensions can be employed so long as certain relationships, hereafter described, are observed.

The outside wall of FIG. 12 is made of 4' x 6 panels 95, 96, 97 and 98 standing on end, the wall being broken at panel 95. This gives a 6' height. Assuming an 8' wall is desired, the panel has a 2 x 6' panel positioned with its longer side resting on the upper edge of panel 95, giving a total wall height of 8'. The panels 96-98 also have a pair of side-by-side 2' x 6' panels 101) and 101 positioned with their longer sides resting on the upper edge of panels 95, 96 and 96, 97, respectively.

The form wall also includes a pair of 4' x 6 panels 102, 103 lying on their longer sides with the lower edge of panel 163 resting on the upper edge of panel 102. One shorter side of panel 102 abuts against the side edge 9 of panel 98, and one shorter side of panel 103 abuts against the edges of panels 98 and 101.

The outside corner form 104 comprises a pair of panels 105 and 106 rigidly secured together at right angles to each other. The outside corner form may abut against the sides of panels 102 and 103 or a spacer 120, later described, may be inserted next to one or both of the panels 105 and 106 of the outside corner form.

Each side of the panels 95-103 has at least one semicircular notch or groove 107 in its edge. When the panels are assembled, pairs of these notches or grooves are aligned to give circular holes at the point of juncture between panels. It will be seen from FIG. 12 that the panels of a particular form wall may stand vertically or lie horizontally, of, panels 96-98 vs. panels 102, 103. Therefore, it is preferred that each edge of the panels contain at least one of said notches or grooves so that every panel of the form system can be used at any place in any form walls. Under this arrangement, a given form system is more universally adapted to use in a variety of wall form requirements. It is contemplated, however, that form systems of the invention can be tailored to specific uses wherein the forms are used for repeated identical pourings, e.g., identical foundation walls for large housing projects. The panels for such forms can be drilled only along abutting edges of the panels-omitting, for example, the semi-circular recesses or half-holes 107 and their companion holes 109 along the lower sides of panels 95-98 and 102 and along the upper sides of panels 99- 101 and 103.

Each semi-circular recess or half hole 107 has a companion hole 109 spaced inwardly from the edges of the panels. The distances between the edges and their respective holes 109 are constant throughout the forms system. The holes 109 on opposite sides of a hole 108 receive studs or pins 66, 67 of the tie plate 65 while the tie rod end or segment 32 with its button projects through the hole 68 of the plate 65.

If the specified wall length for a concrete wall cannot be exactly provided by the form panels, the panels are chosen to provide the closest dimension less than the required length, and a spreader 111 is cut to a width to supply the dilference. The spreader is usually cut by the forms contractor to meet his needs for a given situation. The spreader is drilled with half holes or recesses to provide holes 108 in combination with the half holes 107 in the abutting panel sections at the juncture of the sides of the spreader 111 and the abutting form panels,

which are panels 95, 96, 99 and 100 in the illustration of FIG. 12. The spreader 111 is also drilled to provide companion holes 109 corresponding to the holes109 in the panels of the form system. Spreader 111 is then tied in the form wall with tie plates 65 in the same manner as previously described for tying together the panel sections 95-103.

The layout of the panels on the inside wall of the form system parallel with the outside Wall shown in FIG. 12 corresponds to the layout of the outside wall panels so that the holes 108 are directly opposite. The two walls are tied together by tie rods of the type shown in FIG. 6. The shank segments 32 and their buttons 5 project through the holes 108 in the form walls with the discs 31 pressed against the inside surface of the Walls. The outer and inner walls are rigidly tied together by wedging hairpins 1 between the buttons 5 and tie plates 65. The hairpins tightly hold tie plates 65 against the panels to hold the abutting sides of the panels rigidly against each other.

The panels 9510'3 may be made of any material of sufi'icient strength. The preferred material is plywood of a thickness in the order of 1"-1 A". Plywood coated with a resin to make cleaning of the forms easier is the most preferred form of plywood.

Where the form walls'require bracing or a catwalk,

10 pins 1. FIG. 12 shows a catwalk or waler brace 110 mounted on the wall by these modified hairpins and also shows a kicker brace 112 used to reinforce the wall against lateral shifting, connected to the Wall by a modified hairpin 80.

One of the important features of the forms system of FIGS. 12-14 is the adaptability of the form panels to be placed in the wall in a variety of arrangements while retaining the alignment of half holes 107 and their companion holes 109 along all abutting edges of the panels. This is done by using panel widths and lengths which are whole number multiples, or progressions, e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc; 2, 4, 6, etc; 3, 6, 9, or the like. I prefer the 2, 4, 6 progression because I have found that a 4' x 6' heavy plywood panel is a good, maximum panel size, and this size panel is about the maximum size panel which can be carried conveniently by one man. I state this as a preference only and do not exclude other relative dimensions for the sides of the rectangular panels.

Further, the spacing of the half holes 107 and their respective companion holes 109 along the sides of the panels is another important feature. This is achieved by positioning one half hole 107 and companion 109 at the mid-points of the shortest sides in the panel systems, which in the panel system of FIGS. 12-14 with 2. x 6

.and 4' x 6' panels is the mid point of the 2' sides. Then,

half-holes 107 and companion holes 109 are made in the larger sides (4' and 6) at points spaced from each corner of the rectangular panels a distance equal to one half the length of the shortest side. This distance for the 2' x 6' and 4 x 6' panels of FIG. 12 is 1 foot. This is all that has to be done for the sides next largest to the shortest side, e.g., the 4' sides. For the next longer sides, e.g., the 6" sides, one more half hole 107 and companion hole 109 are made in each side at the mid-point of the total length of the side, e.g., at the 3' mark. For longer lengths, e.g., 8', 10' etc., the spacing of' the intermediate half holes and companion holes from the two corner half holes and their companion holes and also between the intermediate half holes and companion holes along said side of the longer length is the length of the shortest panel side. In the illustrated case, the spacing from corner to corner of an 8' side is 1', 2, 2', 2' and 1'. For a 10' side, it is 1', 2', 2., 2', 2, and 1'.

The outside corner form 104 is tied to the form walls in a slightly different manner. The panels 105 and 106 have holes 109 drilled therein so that these holes are directly opposite the half holes 107 of the adjacent side or sides of the adjacent panel or panels, i.e., the panels 102 and'103. The corner form panels 105 and 106 need no half holes in their edges.

The outside corner forms are tied to the form Walls by the hardware shown in FIG. 8. The tie rods at the corners do not project through the panels 102 and 103 through holes 108 but rather through holes 109 in the panels 102 and 103'. The button 5 of the tie rods is slipped through one of the holes 77 in plate 75. The pin or stud 76 is then driven into a hole 109 in the corner panel 105. This seats the tie rod bar segment 32 in the slot 78 of the hole 77. The spacing between holes 109 in the corner panel 105 and holes 109 in the panels 102 and 103 is correlated with the spacing between the pin or stud 76 and the remote edges of slots 78 so that the corner panel and adjacent side panels are drawn together by a' pressure of the remote ends of slots 78 against the tie rod, which in turn presses against the side of hole 109 in the panel 102 or 103, when the stud or pin '76 is driven into hole 109 in the corner panel 105. The

plate.75 is held on the form wall by a hairpin wedged between tie rod button 5 and the plate 75.

Another important feature of the forms system of the invention is the ease of adaptability of the system to provide form walls for pouring concrete walls of various thicknesses. The outside corner form can be spaced an additional one or two inches from panels 102 and 103 by inserting therebetween a 1" or 2" spacer 120. Spacer 120 may be nailed lightly to the adjacent panels and is held against outward slippage under the weight of the concrete by plates 75 extending thereacross.

The plurality of holes 77 and their slots 78 adapts plate 75 to be used at a corner with no spacer, a 1" spacer or a 2" spacer. With no spacer, the hole 77 closest to stud or pin 76 slips over and engages the corner tie bar, whereas the middle and furthest distant holes 77 are used in walls containing a 1" or 2" spacer, respectively.

Spacers 120 may be used in one or both walls of a corner. Referring to FIG. 13, there is shown a corner for which one wall is an 8" wall while the other corner is a 12" wall. This adaptability of the form system for forming corner walls of different thicknesses is another important advantage of the forms systems of the invention. Before describing this aspect of the invention, reference is made to FIG. 14 wherein there is illustrated a corner of a form system for pouring corner walls of the same thickness. In this embodiment, the outside wall comprises panels of the type shown in FIG. 12 in any suitable orientation. The upper panel 103 of the outside wall is shown in FIG. 14. This panel is connected by hardware 75 (FIG. 8) to the corner from 104, the two corner panels of which have an inner wall width of equal size. The upper panel 119 is similarly connected to the corner form. The inside corner of the form comprises panels 115, 116, 117 and 118, which are the same in structure as panels 102 and 103 of FIG. 12. The inside corner panels are rigidly held at right angles to each other by tie rods 48, hairpins 1, and inside corner braces 70 (FIG. 7). The tie rods at the inside corners also project through holes 109 in the panels 115418 rather than through holes 108. The inside corner braces 70 are slipped over the two projecting ends of the tie rod pairs provided along the inside corner. One of the slots 73 in each plate '71 and 72 of the inside corner brace accommodates the projecting tie rods. In a corner where the inside wall panels meet, as in FIG. 14, the tie rods fit in the slots 73 closest to the juncture of plates 71 and 72. The inside corner braces are then rigidly tied in the corner by wedging hairpins between the buttons of the tie rods and the plates 71 and 72 of the inside corner brace to give a rigid inside corner. The panels 115 and 116 do not overlap, and a filler 122, e.g., a board of square cross-section, can be lightly nailed to the panels to square out the corner.

The corner form 104- can be used in conjunction with 1 or 2" spacers corresponding to spacer 120 between each side of the corner form and the adjacent form panels for pouring walls 1" or 2 thicker than the wall for which the corner form was made. For example, if corner form 104 were made for pouring 8" walls, with 1" or 2 spacers, the form system with corner 104 can be adapted to pour 9" or 10 walls.

Returning particularly to FIG. 13, there is shown one illustration of the adaptation of the forms systems of the invention in the pouring of corner walls of diiferent thicknesses. For purposes of illustration, there is illustrated a form corner for an 8" and a 12" wall. This corner is similar to the corner of FIG. 14 except that a 2 spacer 120 is inserted between the corner form 104 and panels 102 and 103 (FIG. 12). The corner form 104 is made for a 10" wall corner form and spacer 120 extends the corner form another 2" to give a 12 spacing for the wall thickness B. Another difference over the corner of FIG. 14 is that the wall thickness A is 8", or 2" less than the Wall thickness for which 10" corner form 104 was designed. This leaves a 2" space between inside corner panels 124 and 125 which is filled by a filler board 121 lightly nailed to the edge of panel 124. The filler board 121 is braced against being pushed outwardly from the inside wall by the inside corner braces 70 spaced along the inside wall. In this case, the panel 12 123 of the outside wall abuts against the corner form 104 (no spacer).

The inside corner filler 121 may be a fiat board as shown in FIG. 13, but it may also be in some instances a right angle corner like outside corner form 104.

The purpose for the plurality of slots 73 in the plates 71 and 72 of inside corner brace is shown in FIG. 13 where it will be noted from the top plane view that one tie rod is seated in the innermost slot of one plate and the outermost slot of the other plate of brace 70. The center-to-center spacing between slots 73 corresponds to the increments for the form systems in altering spacing between inside and outside walls, e.g., 1" intervals.

There have been shown on FIG. 13 letter symbols denoting various distances. The following equations are applicable to form system corners of the invention, regardless of whether the corner walls to be poured are of the same thickness or are of difierent thicknesses. A is the spacing between outside and inside panels for one wall; B is the spacing between outside and inside panels for the other wall; C is the width of the spacer in the outside wall; D is the width of inside wall fillers; E and F are the widths of the inside walls of the outside corner forms from inside corner to the respective edges of the corner form panels; and T and T are the thicknesses of the inside wall panels.

(2) A+D=F where a right angle inside corner filler, similar to corner form 104, is used instead of a flat board filler, T is to be considered the length of the right angle corner panel at right angles to dimension D.

For a corner with no spacers or fillers other than the square cross-section filler 122 (FIG. 14), the following equations apply:

(3) E=B+T (4) F A-j-T' The forms systems of FIGS. 5, l2 and 14 are shown, for purposes of better illustration of the invention, in various stages of assembly, i.e., partly without any hardware, partly with hardware in place except for the hairpins, and partly in full assembly. It will be understood that a completed form will have complete hardware at all places in the first two above-stated instances.

It will thus be seen from the foregoing description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, that the present invention provides new and improved concrete form systems having novel features, advantages and characteristics and accomplishing its intended objectives, including those hereinbefore pointed out and others which are inherent in the invention.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. In a concrete form system, the combination comprising a series of abutting panels forming a pair of spaced, opposing walls, tie rods mounted on and extending between said walls with the ends of said tie rods projecting through said walls, a button on at least some projecting ends of said tie rods, hairpins, having slotted, inclined surfaces, mounted on said last-mentioned projecting ends of said tie rods with a button of said tie rods tightly seated on said inclined surface, a rod mounted on and projecting outwardly from said hairpin, a U-bracket adjustably mounted on said rod, and means on said bracket and coacting with said rod to lock said bracket in the adjusted position on said rod, said U- bracket adapted to receive and hold a catwalk or a kicker brace or a waler brace used for reinforcing one of said walls.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said U-bracket is adjustably mounted on said rod by a clamp plate mounted on one leg of said U-bracket, said clamp plate having a curved seat in which said pin is seated and means operatively associated with'said clamp plate for releasably clamping said U-bracket in the desired position on said pin.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said U-bracket has nail-hole apertures therein, said one of said braces is nailed in said U-bracket, wherein the brace can be adjustably positioned.

4. A concrete form system comprising two series of side-by-side, abutting panels forming a pair of spaced, opposing walls, said panels having at least one group of predrilled holes at each of two opposite side edges, each group of predrilled holes composed of a first hole in said panel adjacent to but inwardly from the side edge of said panel and a recess forming a half hole in the side edge of said panel, the half holes in abutting side edges of said panels being opposite each other and forming an aperture through said wall at the juncture of said panels, said apertures in one of said walls being in approximate alignment with similar apertures in the opposite of said walls, plates each having two, parallel studs rigidly mounted thereon and projecting from one face thereof, said plates being mounted on each of said Walls across the abutting side edges of said panels with the two studs on each plate driven into respective first holes of contiguous groups of holes in the abutting panels to draw contiguous side edges of respective side panels together, said plates each having an aperture therein aligned with the respective apertures through said wall at the juncture of said panels, tie rods connecting said opposing walls and extending through the two last-mentioned, aligned apertures, and means on the projecting ends of said tie rods for releasably holding together said plates, the respective panels on which said plates are mounted, and the respective tie rods extending between said walls.

5. The form system of claim 4 wherein said means comprises a button on each end of said tie rod and a hairpin in locking relationship with each button, said hairpin having a slotted, inclined segment, said button being tightly seated on said inclined segment.

6. The combination of claim 4 wherein said abutting panels are rectangular panels of at least two sizes, the lengths of the sides of which panels are whole number multiples.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said holes in said panels are located along the panel sides of shortest dimension at the mid-point of said sides, the sides of said panels larger than said shortest side have said holes spaced along said larger sides a distance from each corner of the panel equal to one-half the length of said shorter side and such additional holes in said longer sides as are necessary to provide a spacing between said holes equal to the length of said shortest side.

8. In a concrete form systems, the combination comprising a series of abutting panels forming a pair of spaced, opposing walls, tie rods mounted on and extending between said walls with the ends of said tie rods projecting through said walls, a button on at least some projecting ends of said tie rods, hairpins, having slotted, inclined surfaces, mounted on said last-mentioned projecting ends of said tie rods with a button of said tie rods tightly seated on said inclined surface, a member mounted on and projecting outwardly from said hairpin, a bracket rtatably and slidably mounted on said member, and means coacting between said bracket and said member to lock said bracket in the adjusted position on said member, said bracket adapted to receive and hold a waler brace, a catwalk or a kicker brace used for reinforcing one of said walls.

9. The combination of claim 8 wherein said member is a plate rigidly mounted on said hairpin and projecting outwardly therefrom, said plate having a longitudinal slot, and an L-bracket adjustably mounted on said plate by bolt means extending through said slot and said L- bracket.

10. An outside corner of concrete form systems comprising an outside corner form made from two panels forming a corner, a form wall panel adjacent to an outer edge of one of said corner panels, a plurality of verticallyspaced holes in said one of said corner panels adjacent said one outer edge thereof, a hole substantially horizontally-aligned with each of said first-mentioned holes and in said form wall panel adjacent the juxtapositioned edge of the latter, rods projecting through said holes in said form wall panel, and tie plates each having at least one aperture therein in which is seated one of said tie rods and also having a metal stud projecting from a face of said plate, said studs being seated in said holes in said one of said panels, and means to hold said tie plate against said panels.

11. The outerside corner form of claim 10 wherein the adjacent edges of said form wall panel and said one of said panels abut.

12. The outerside corner form of claim 10 wherein the adjacent edges of said form wall panel and said one of said panels are spaced apart by a spacer member inserted therebetween.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 584,093 6/ 1897 Maytham 248-245 775,685 11/1904 Shute et al 25-131 1,552,885 9/1925 Seat 25-131 1,726,976 9/1929 Bosco 25-131 1,970,547 8/1934 Anderson 25-131 2,236,616 4/1941 Bosco 25-131 2,273,198 2/ 1942 Hillberg 254-51 2,340,864 2/ 1944 Carpenter 20-92 2,442,292 5/ 1948 Hart 25-131 2,502,849 4/ 1950 Jennings 269-229 2,506,485 5/1950 Bondousquie 25-131 2,511,584 6/1950 Hill 25-131 2,632,228 3/ 1953 Huntington 25-131 2,776,464 1/ 1957 Stewart 25-131 2,870,516 1/1959 Jennings 25-131 2,882,583 4/ 1959 Arrighini et al. 25-131 2,940,153 6/1960 Allen 25-131 2,952,060 9/1960 Allen 25-131 2,963,763 12/ 1960 LeCluyse 25-131 2,977,659 4/1961 Buxton 25-131 3,007,221 11/1961 Kenney 25-131 FOREIGN PATENTS 3495/26 3/ 1927 Australia.

573,970 3/1924 France. 1,115,640 1/ 1956 France. 1,187,043 3/1959 France.

OTHER REFERENCES Construction Methods and Equipment, March 1957, page 187.

Engineering News-Record, Jan. 21, 1960, page 59.

J. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT F. WHITE, MICHAEL V. BRINDISI,

Examiners.

G. A. KAP, R. S. ANNEAR, R. D. BALDWIN,

Assistant Examiners. 

1. IN A CONCRETE FORM SYSTEM, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING A SERIES OF ABUTTING PANELS FORMING A PAIR OF SPACED, OPPOSING WALLS, TIE RODS MOUNTED ON AND EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID WALLS WITH THE ENDS OF SAID TIE RODS PROJECTING THROUGH SAID WALLS, A BUTTON ON AT LEAST SOME PROJECTING ENDS OF SAID TIE RODS, HAIRPINS, HAVING SLOTTED, INCLINED SURFACES, MOUNTED ON SAID LAST-MENTIONED PROJECTING ENDS OF SAID TIE RODS WITH A BUTTON OF SAID TIE RODS TIGHTLY SEATED ON SAID INCLINED SURFACE, A ROD MOUNTED ON AND PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID HAIRPIN, A U-BRACKET ADJUSTABLY MOUNTED ON SAID ROD, AND MEANS ON SAID BRACKET AND COACTING WITH SAID ROD TO LOCK SAID BRACKET IN THE ADJUSTED POSITION ON SAID ROD, SAID UBRACKET ADAPTED TO RECEIVE AND HOLD A CATWALK OR A KICKER BRACE OR A WALER BRACE USED FOR REINFORCING ONE OF SAID WALLS. 